hppants
Well-known member
MikeP1300 and I had 250 miles of yee haa in the heart of Cajun Country yesterday. It was completely unplanned and we enjoyed it. A "cold" front moved through during the night before, but by mid-morning, tailing clouds gave way to what my father calls a "Blue Bird Sky" with an unlimited ceiling. Temperatures warmed to the upper 60's. A stiff north wind blew all day, but for the FJR, this is nothing to worry about. I wore my mesh jacket with the liner and was very comfortable. You northerners can eat your heart out!
The winter in South Louisiana is a birder's dream come true. Our relatively mild weather and bountiful feed make this a great place for millions of migratory birds to winter here. On a good day, I can easily spot 50 species in an afternoon. I brought my camera and glasses in hopes of seeing some birds. However, our route and circumstances didn't really work out that way, so I only took a few pictures at one spot. We stopped at the Morganza Spillway. This is a floodplain that is created between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River. A flood control structure resides here to allow the Army Corp of Engineers to dump rising Mississippi River water in emergencies and save New Orleans and Baton Rouge from devestating flooding. In over 50 years, they have only opened the flood gates a few times.
Regardless, it made for a nice place to stop and look around at the top of the structure levee
I saw something that caught my eye and we decided to ride on the floodplain road to investigate. It's an eagle's nest in a Cypress tree.
This baby was pretty big (around 6 feet in diameter). Mike stated that he thought he saw white crowns in the nest as we rode across the control structure, but I didn't see any sign of birds in the nest. I did see an eagle flying toward the nest in the distance, but when it saw us standing there, it quickly diverted elsewhere. That tree line well in the distance is the bank of the Mississippi River. Remember that Ole Man River drains 2/3 of the entire country. Maybe if people knew that whatever they dump goes into beautiful places like this, they might think twice.
Anyway, while standing there, I thought I spotted a small eagle perched in the distance.
But it turned out to be a Sparrow Hawk, which is actually a member of the Falcon family:
My point and shoot had trouble with this shot.
Two horses among the birds....
That was the last shot I took. We wandered toward Cottonport and had lunch at a favorite spot. Then we rode back to Lafayette, arriving safely about 4:00 pm. Pretty good day for January. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
The winter in South Louisiana is a birder's dream come true. Our relatively mild weather and bountiful feed make this a great place for millions of migratory birds to winter here. On a good day, I can easily spot 50 species in an afternoon. I brought my camera and glasses in hopes of seeing some birds. However, our route and circumstances didn't really work out that way, so I only took a few pictures at one spot. We stopped at the Morganza Spillway. This is a floodplain that is created between the Mississippi River and the Atchafalaya River. A flood control structure resides here to allow the Army Corp of Engineers to dump rising Mississippi River water in emergencies and save New Orleans and Baton Rouge from devestating flooding. In over 50 years, they have only opened the flood gates a few times.
Regardless, it made for a nice place to stop and look around at the top of the structure levee
I saw something that caught my eye and we decided to ride on the floodplain road to investigate. It's an eagle's nest in a Cypress tree.
This baby was pretty big (around 6 feet in diameter). Mike stated that he thought he saw white crowns in the nest as we rode across the control structure, but I didn't see any sign of birds in the nest. I did see an eagle flying toward the nest in the distance, but when it saw us standing there, it quickly diverted elsewhere. That tree line well in the distance is the bank of the Mississippi River. Remember that Ole Man River drains 2/3 of the entire country. Maybe if people knew that whatever they dump goes into beautiful places like this, they might think twice.
Anyway, while standing there, I thought I spotted a small eagle perched in the distance.
But it turned out to be a Sparrow Hawk, which is actually a member of the Falcon family:
My point and shoot had trouble with this shot.
Two horses among the birds....
That was the last shot I took. We wandered toward Cottonport and had lunch at a favorite spot. Then we rode back to Lafayette, arriving safely about 4:00 pm. Pretty good day for January. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
